Stock Markets in Asia Rise on Positive Chinese Trade Data: Live Updates

For now, investors appeared to be looking on the bright side. Prices for U.S. Treasury bonds, often seen as a safe place to park money, fell in Asia trading. Oil prices rose in futures markets.

At midday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 2.2 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite index in mainland China rose 0.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.5 percent.

Amazon fires two workers who questioned its labor policies.

Amazon has fired two employees and asked a third not to return to work, after the group organized a virtual event for warehouse employees to speak to tech workers at the company about its workplace conditions and coronavirus response.

The two employees who were fired on Friday, Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham, had in late March circulated a petition on internal email lists that called on Amazon to expand sick leave, hazard pay and child care for warehouse workers. The petition also asked Amazon to temporarily shut down facilities where workers were confirmed to have the virus so the facilities could be sterilized.

The third employee, Chris Hayes, had resigned from Amazon because he objected to its treatment of warehouse workers and had given the company notice that he would leave his job by April 17. On Friday, a few hours after he sent out an invitation to co-workers asking them to attend the virtual discussion with warehouse workers, a human resources representative contacted him and told him that he would no longer be allowed to work, Mr. Hayes said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/business/stocks-today-coronavirus.html